The Science Behind Fast ForWord

Based on the Principles of Neuroplasticity

Fast ForWord is cognitive software that breaks the mold in education, using these findings:

• Most reading and learning difficulties stem from cognitive delays not addressed at school.

• The brain will respond to exercise -- cognitive delays can in most cases be corrected.

Fast ForWord uses systematic, intensive and adaptive mental exercises to promote faster processing, better focus and improved memory. It helps the brain of a struggling reader reorganize, creating the same neural pathways used by skilled readers.

Neuroplasticity

Until recently, the scientific community believed that the structure and organization of the brain was fixed and did not change much after first three years of life. Over the last few decades, however, researchers have discovered that the brain can fundamentally reorganize itself when confronted with new challenges, and that this can occur regardless of age.

Evidence suggests that the brain, when given the right exercise, can actually reshape itself to become more efficient. This ability, known by scientists as "neuroplasticity," has far-reaching consequences in education. It means that the window to healthy learning and reading is always open, that neuroplasticity can be leveraged to improve the brain's health and performance at any age.

Fast ForWord neuroscientists played an important role in these discoveries about the brain, and the principles learned in this research have been incorporated into Fast ForWord software.

Key Learning Science Concepts

Designed by neuroscientists and based on extensive research, Fast ForWord's cognitive software promotes learning by selectively exercising essential fundamental skills. Included below are some key concepts for understanding this process and cognitive brain training in general.

Frequency, Intensity and Shaping
Just as with learning new physical skills e.g., tennis, or building upper body strength, developing new learning capabilities requires consistent exercise, adding speed and complexity in tiny, incremental steps, called "shaping." Our students typically spend 30-50 minutes per day on our programs, five days a week, for a minimum of 12 weeks.

Adaptivity
Each individual brings his or her own unique set of strengths and weaknesses to any new task. A task that is quite easy for one student will be difficult for another. In order to derive benefit from training, the level of difficulty must be appropriately set at a level that is challenging without being discouraging. This level is different for each student, and it will change over time as performance improves. This response to challenge is a central component of how the nervous system operates, and shaping the response properties of the system progressively and adaptively is a part of all effective learning processes.

A critical factor in the success of cognitive software is how to make every minute of exercise intense and productive. Each task needs to be adapted in a way that optimizes training intensity and improvement in that skill. The ability to adjust task difficulty in response to individual users’ performance on a moment-to-moment basis is one of the key innovations in cognitive training that has been made possible by computer technology. Fast ForWord constantly assesses the participant's skill level, progressing at the student's own pace.

Creating New Neural Circuits
Every Gemm student experiences some version of the "activation" shown in this fMRI picture -- moving videos taken of the brain in action. This activation is significant.

Most struggling readers under-use language areas of the brain, because poor phonological awareness impacts the quality of their language input, their word memory, and so it is not useful. This makes reading, essentially a language skill -- there is a 98% overlap in brain activity between reading and listening -- challenging.

Simultaneous Development
Lasting gains are achieved when cognitive, language and literacy skills are trained simultaneously. This is a major element of Fast ForWord.

Engagement
To get the most out of cognitive software, students should train often and consistently. To encourage people to do so, effective brain training must therefore possess engaging exercises and an effective reward structure. When the brain is in an engaged and rewarded state, it is much more open to learning and change. What’s more, the very process of being rewarded for correct responses in a given task teaches the brain mechanisms to process that information more effectively. The reward for correct performance tells the brain, “That worked, do that again when confronted with the same situation in the future.” The computer game feel of Fast ForWord is further supported for Gemm Learning students through Gemm City, our online rewards site.

Natural Learning
Early learning is natural. Children learn through discovery, tested in the real world settings, then integrated into knowledge and behavior. It is a powerful learning process where in-the-moment feedback promotes deep understanding and enduring gains.

Fast ForWord cognitive software offers one-on-one adaptive training with a level of intensity and depth of instruction that can't be matched by direct human instruction or any other learning software. The program provides participants with cognitive training they can't get through classroom learning, tutoring, therapy or the workplace.

Taking Advantage Of Brain Plasticity

Over the past 30 years, neuroscientists have studied the human brain to determine how it learns and what factors affect learning. Prior to this research it was thought that the brain was hardwired or fixed but scientists have since made the ground-breaking discovery of brain plasticity, the capacity of the brain to develop and change its structure and function through experience and training.

It used to be thought that a child's learning skills develop in the first three years of life. We now know that while change is more difficult after this early period, the window for building fundamental cognitive skills remains open throughout life.
The opportunities presented by brain fitness training

At the forefront of this neuroplasticity research were neuroscientists Dr. Michael Merzenich, Dr. Paula Tallal, Dr. Bill Jenkins and Dr. Steve Miller, who collaborated to develop Fast ForWord software.
Fast ForWord neuroscience software principles here

How Cognitive Issues Undermine Learning

Accurate listening is probably a child's most important first skill. It dictates how quickly he or she will pick up the language, and then how quickly he or she will learn from their surroundings, their parents, peers and teachers. Then of course, it will determine early reading decoding skills.

If your child is not processing sound fast enough, phonemic awareness is impaired and phonics are hard to grasp. To function properly a brain needs to be able to perform many different cognitive skills (such as processing, sequencing, working memory) at natural language speed. For children with even the slightest auditory processing disorder, including those who may have had 4-6 weeks of ear infections while very young, this is a problem.

Accurate listening is not easy. It is one of the fastest things the brain does. Distinguishing syllables comes down to differentiating sounds in milliseconds. Count off a second. One, one thousand. Four syllables, 2-3 sounds in each, all in one second. This critical skill is beyond many students and becomes a lifetime impediment to success.

Another Way to Look At Fast ForWord

The Problem. Good reading requires accurate listening. For children who hear every sound in every word, reading is simply a matter of transposing language to a new format using their ABC's. But, for those with a limited or muddy speech vocabulary, reading is like being confronted with a whole new language.

Fast ForWord's Idea. The most common cause of poor listening accuracy is that the brain does not process quite fast enough to discriminate between sounds, or at least not with the ease and accuracy required for comfortable reading. Fast ForWord's concept is simple. Athletes build strength through repetition with increasing difficulty. When you teach a child to hit a baseball you start slow then speed up. Why not teach the brain to listen more accurately the same way?

Science Applied. The Fast ForWord computer program is really a slow pitch machine for the brain. It strengthens cognitive skills by starting out at the student's current skill level and then in tiny increments adds speed and complexity. The brain is self-organizing. Just as every muscle will respond to exercise, every brain will respond to Fast ForWord, providing it can access (function at) the starting point.

About 90% of reading issues stem from cognitive weaknesses, and so it makes sense that cognitive software would be effective for reading. This fundamental approach also helps other learning difficulties.
Typical students helped by the Fast ForWord program